Reunions and Rainfall
by Exl
Summary: When the Heroes of Time visit their old friends, they get involved into Magus' business.
1. Epoch's revival

**Reunions and Rainfall**  
_By Exile_

  
  


_Disclaimer: All of the characters used in this fanfic, except for Ryen who makes a short appearance in chapter 5, are property of Square. Any references to other stories, except mine, are purely coincidental. If you insist it's otherwise, I'll tell Magus you've slept with his sister._

  


* * *

  


**Chapter 1: Epoch's revival**

"Is that you, Marle?"

Lucca watched around the corner of the door to see Crono and Marle waiting in front of her house.

"Hey Lucca, how are you?" asked Marle.  
"Haven't seen you in a long time!" Crono said.  


Lucca scratched the back of her head.

"Well, uhm, I've been kind of busy lately. Come on in, can't let you stand out in the rain like that." she said.

It rained outside, just like it did for the last few days. Crono and Marle came in and hung their coats. Marle closed their umbrella and laid it down in a corner.

"How about something to drink?" Lucca asked while leading them towards the kitchen.  
"Nah, thanks. We just had another one of those fancy dinners at the castle." Crono answered.  
"We're stuffed." said Marle. "By the way, where are your parents?"  
"Oh, they left to Porre. Something about the forest I believe."  


They sat down at the table in the kitchen, while Lucca poured some soda in a glass for herself.

"Now then, why did you come to see me all of a sudden?" Lucca asked the two visitors.  
"Well, Crono got an idea last night, when we were telling our story about Lavos to the chancellor. You wouldn't believe the expression on his face when we told him about how we got Magus to join us." Marle said.  
"He thinks Magus is just as evil as that Yakra who stuffed him and his ancestor in a box." smiled Crono.  
"Well, technically he is, you know." Lucca said.  
"I don't believe he isn't that evil anymore, not after the things that happened." Marle said.  
"You think so?"  
"Of course. He even helped us get rid of Ozzie's gang."  
"I'd like to see some proof of that before I'd believe it. Now, what idea did you have, Crono?"  
"Well, it's been almost a year now since we defeated Lavos, so I was thinking about bringing everyone together, sort of like a reunion." Crono said.  


The sky lit up in a bright light as a loud thunder was heard from outside. It seemed to rain even harder than before.

"Heh. Ominous." Crono replied to the thunder. "So what do you think about it?"  
"I knew you would want to do that some day. Glad I didn't dismantle the Epoch." Lucca said, a smile suddenly appearing on her face. "I'll get started right away! We'll get Robo, Frog and Ayla and..."  
"Hold it!" Marle stopped Lucca. She paused for a moment. "You haven't dismantled the Epoch?"  
"Well, um... no. I thought that it might be of some use."  
"But you know what could happen if someone accidentally used it?"  
"Of course! It's deactivated at the moment. But I can activate it again. Sure. No problem. I just..."  
"You're awfully happy about this aren't you? Something tells me you wanted to do this since a long time."  
"It seems you want that too Crono."  
"Well, not as badly as you do."  
"You just want to see Robo again, don't you?" Marle said.  
"Well, that too, but I want to see how they are all doing. If Robo is still the same after we changed the future, if Frog defeated Magus or if Ayla and Kino got married."  
"I think we should pay them a visit then."  
"When do we go? I honestly can't wait" Crono asked.  
"With the Epoch, we've got all the time in the world, so why don't we go right away? Right Lucca?" Marle asked the inventor.  
"Well, technically we don't have all the time in the world, because we'd get older in this time when we return at the moment when we left." she answered.  
"Uh... yeah. Right." Crono said, not completely understanding what she just said.  
"I'm just saying that we can't, or shouldn't return from our visits at the same time when we left. You'd have aged the time you went away. Not very much, but if you would keep doing such things, you'd eventually end up being older than your own parents."  
"I see. So we'll just leave a note here that we are away, right?"  
"Okay, don't see any reason not to."  


Marle wrote a small note saying that they would be back in a few hours, and went off to tell her father the same thing, while Crono and Lucca were going to get the Epoch.

  
  


"So where have you stored it without anyone seeing it?" Crono asked while he followed Lucca to the forest. Lucca opened the umbrella she took with them to shield them against the heavy rain.  
"Me and my dad have a small storage space underground in the forest. It's actually right below where the gate to 2300 AD used to be."  
"Then how did you fit that thing in there anyway? I've never seen any entrance to that space there."  
"Ever noticed the grass there is fake?"  
"No."  
"Well it is. There's a small button hidden in the bushes that opens a big hatch."  


Crono stood still for a moment.

"Wait a sec. Why didn't you open that space when we were escaping from the castle, after I was imprisoned there?"  
"I didn't know where the button was back then. My dad told me about it, the storage space I mean, but he always said he had some things stored in there I should stay away from."  
"He didn't trust you, his own genius daughter who could build things even he himself couldn't think of?"  
"No. I think he had some stuff hidden there. But he got rid of it when I asked him if I could store the Epoch there."  
"What kind of stuff exactly?"  
"I wouldn't have the slightest clue."  


  
  


They arrived at the spot where the storage space was supposed to be. And indeed, in this heavy rainfall you could see a big, square part of grass standing straight up as if it wasn't affected by the rain at all.

"Let's see now, third bush from the right, and then three forward."

Lucca stepped between some trees and bushes, and then searched the ground.

"Got it! Stand back Crono."

Crono stepped a few steps backwards, and as Lucca pressed the button, a grinding noise could be heard coming from under the ground. Then the square patch of ground started to lift side wards up into the air, supported by steel beams.

"Hey, nice contraption." Crono said, amazed by the smoothness of the entire operation.

Crono followed Lucca into the dark space, seeing only parts of the Epoch bright enough to distinguish from the rest of the things stored in the space.

"Now, let's activate it. It's been a while since it's been used. Hope it still works."

Lucca took off a part of metal from under the bottom of the winged machine. Crono could hear her press some buttons and attach some wires. Suddenly the light in the dome of the Epoch lit up.

"Yes! It still works! That Belthasar sure knew what he was doing."

Lucca crawled from under the machine and got up.

"Come on, get in."

They both got into the Epoch, Lucca pressed a few buttons and the dome closed. After another pair of buttons were pressed by the young woman, the Epoch started to make a faint humming noise, then it started to get up higher and higher from the ground, until it floated high above the forest.

"Okay then, now let's pick up Marle." she said, as she steered the Epoch towards the castle.

  
  


"Is he upstairs?"  
"Yes milady."  
"Thanks."  


Marle closed her umbrella and gave it to the servant. She then walked through the throne room, entering the stairs towards the left tower.

The king heard footsteps coming up the stairs.

"Go away! I don't want to be disturbed!" he shouted to the person coming upstairs.  
"Dad, it's me!" Marle shouted back.  


When Marle entered the kings room, she saw her father lying on his bed, massaging his temples with his fingers.

"Another hard day, daddy?"  
"Yes, afraid so. The Porre residents were complaining about the forest again. As if I could do anything about that." the king replied, staring at the ceiling.  
"Sorry to hear that, dad. I just came to tell you that I'm going to leave with Crono and Lucca to ehm..."  
"Are you going to travel through time again?" the king asked before the princess could come up with a suitable thing to say.  
"If that's alright with you." she replied.  
"Of course. Don't worry, I don't mind you saving all existence again." he said, sarcastically.  
"No, we are just going to gather some old friends. For a reunion."  
"Is that so?" the king said. He thought for a moment.  
"How about I let the servants make a party for you guys?" he then said.  
"Well, I was actually thinking about something more private."  
"Okay. Just a thought."  


Outside, they heard a loud rustle through the wind and rain. Then they saw the Epoch hovering closer and closer towards the only window in the room.

"Is that the machine you went through time with?" the king asked Marle as he saw the Epoch's dome open, revealing the two teenagers inside.  
"Yes it is. Now, I'll be back in a few hours, so don't worry."  
"Okay. Bye." the king replied as he closed his eyes.  
"Bye daddy."  
"Hey, king, long time no seen!" Crono shouted through the window.  
"Crono! Easy! He had a hard day!" Marle said to Crono, a bit angry.  
The king didn't seem to have heard what the young man said. He already was asleep.  
"Oh, sorry then."  


Marle stepped into the dome of the Epoch, making sure she didn't fall the long way down.

"Okay then, now let's pick up Frog." Lucca said while pressing some buttons, while the small screens on Epoch's dashboard flickered a few times.

"Hey, you almost said the same thing just a while ago." Crono said to Lucca.  
"Shut up."  


Lucca pressed a red button and the Epoch started making even more noise. It changed direction to avoid crashing into the castle after which it speeded up dramatically as it disappeared from sight, leaving a bright light behind it.

  
  


As the three people inside the machine rapidly flew through time, they could see images of events passing by them. They saw the war against the Mystics, the Zealean Kingdom and even Frog's now abandoned hideout, which a Nu now had claimed for himself. Then they saw a bright light getting more and more intense, until they suddenly reappeared into a different time, 600 AD according to Epoch's time gyro.

"It's been a while since we were here. Glad it still looks the same." Marle said.  
"It might not be the same you know. What if Magus has defeated Glenn and became the ruler of this time?" Crono said.  
"Nah. Impossible. That would mean that we probably wouldn't exist anymore." Lucca quickly explained.  
"Guess so."  


The purple-haired woman steered the machine towards the castle, landing it softly in front of the main gate. They were welcomed by two soldiers.

"Look! It's them! They're back!" one said as he saw the time-machine land in front of them.  
"Don't get all excited now. We're not going save the world again." said Lucca as the dome opened.  
"Uh, no. Of course not."  
The trio got out of the Epoch, the dome closing behind them as they entered the castle.  


"You think this thing is made all out of metal?" said the soldier who got snapped at earlier to the other one standing next to him, examining the famous machine he had heard so much about.  
"What else would it be made of?"  
"Well, it might be some magic thing inside there. You know, something like Magus."  
"You really think so?"  
"Yeah. Pulling some strings to make the thing fly, stuff like that. But don't touch it. He might attack us."  
"Really? How do you know?"  
"Well, if it has Magus in there, he'll definitely try to kill us. We're enemies after all."  
"Just shut up. You're being silly."  
"Must've been that ale."  
"Must've been that _keg_ of ale!"  
"Whatever. -hic-"  


  
  


"Announcing Sir Crono, Lady Lucca and Princess Nadia!"  
"Hey! You know I hate being called 'Princess Nadia'!" Marle said to the soldier who had just announced them to the king and queen.  
"Excuse me, milady."

"Don't worry. It's alright." she said back.  


"What brings you here, Sir Crono?" Queen Leene asks to Crono, who already stood in front of her.  
"We wonder where Sir Frog his. We came to pay him a visit." Crono answered as he kneeled down before her.  
"Not only that, your majesty, we'd like to 'borrow' him for a while. We're holding a reunion, you know." Lucca said.  
"Oh, but I'm afraid I don't know where he is. Do you?" Leene asked the king. "Sorry. I don't know either."  
"Too bad. We'll have to go and find him then." Lucca said.  
"It's been nice seeing you again, Miss and Mrs." Crono said, still kneeled down before them.  
"You're being awfully nice, aren't you?" Marle whispered into Crono's ear.  
"Well, what do you expect. They're your ancestors."  


As they left the castle, they saw the two soldiers they met earlier examining the Epoch a little too close than Lucca liked.

"Hey! You two! Get away from that!" she snapped.  
"Oh, uhm, yes of course milady!" they both said, as they hastily got back to their places.  
"And don't even get close to this thing again, ever!"  
"Easy on them, they don't know what it does." Marle said as they stepped back into the Epoch.  
"Don't care. They should know better." Lucca muttered.  
"Huh?"  
"Never mind..."  


They lifted off again, the force coming from the Epoch's engines almost knocking the two soldiers off their feet.

"How about his old hiding place?" Crono suggested.  
"You saw that was taken by a Nu, right?" Marle replied towards Crono.  
"Oh yeah. You're right."  


"But maybe he knows where Frog went." Lucca said as she already steered the Epoch towards the Cursed Woods.  
  
  


This time, only Crono stepped out of the Epoch, just because the two women didn't want to get wet. Sadly enough it had started raining in this time too.

"Should've brought an umbrella." Crono muttered to himself as he ran towards the spot where the entrance to Frog's old hiding place was, keeping his shirt partially above his head to avoid his face from getting wet.  
"Hello? Anybody home?" he yelled down into the hole.  
"Nu..." came back as an answer.  
"So there is."  


Crono went down into the hole by carefully going down the wooden ladder.

"Hey there."  
"Hi." the Nu quietly responded. He was sitting on the table, writing a letter.  
"Just here to ask if you know where the previous owner of this ... house went."  
"Stop it you dog!"  
"Huh? What'd I do?"  
"Sorry. Force of habit. I believe you mean the frog guy?"  
"Yep. That's him."  
"I saw him leaving a few days ago. He took that big sword of him with him, including those Mid Ethers he had stored here. Too bad."  
"You suppose he went out to fight, or something like that?"  
"Guess so."  
"Well, thanks then. I know enough. Bye." Crono said as he turned around and got up the ladder again.  
"Nu..." the Nu said when he saw him leave, and returned back to his letter.  


"Well, Crono, did you find him?" Lucca shouted to the one who came running back to the Epoch.  
"Easy would you!" he yelled back. "Let me get in first!"  


Crono quickly jumped up into the now opened dome, and it closed immediately behind him. But before he even got to sit down, he was knocked down by the hard glass of the dome, coming down fast.

"Aww! Lucca! Don't be so hasty! What's your problem?" Crono asked Lucca, rubbing the top of his head.  
"Uh.. Crono, one word... PMS." Marle whispered to him.  
"What's tha... Oh. I see." he realized before he could finish his sentence.  
"Just shut up you two." Lucca snapped.  
"Right. Just saying that Frog is probably looking for Magus right now. By the way, those Nu's. Why do they always say 'Nu...' in..."  


Crono got cut off by an angry Lucca.

"Didn't I tell you to shut up?"


	2. Gesturing secrets

**Reunions and Rainfall**  
_By Exile_

  
  


_Disclaimer: All of the characters used in this fanfic, except for Ryen who makes a short appearance in chapter 5, are property of Square. Any references to other stories, except mine, are purely coincidental. If you insist it's otherwise, I'll make you listen to Lucca explaining about quantum theories._

  


* * *

  
**Chapter 2: Gesturing secrets**

He put the sword back into its sheath, while he walked out of the castle. At that same moment, he saw the Epoch land several meters below him.

"Look, it's Frog!" Marle said excitedly.  
"You think so? Maybe it's another frog-like human being with the Masamune in his hand."  
"That wasn't funny Crono."  


Lucca opened the dome and jumped out first.

"T'is thee again." Frog said to the three adventurers, while he jumped of the small cliff he was standing on earlier.  
"What are you doing here?" Lucca asked the amphibian.  
"I tried to find Magus. But the mage be not here."  
"Of course not. He went to 12000 BC to find Schala. You forgot that?"  


He had forgotten indeed. When they had last seen the arch-wizard, he went into the gate at the fairgrounds, off to find Schala.

"Then it'd be best I return'eth to the castle." Frog said, his face down.  
"Uh, Frog, what's wrong with you?" Marle asked him.  
"T'is nothing. I just need to fi..."  
"Look! Up there in the sky!" Crono shouted as he pointed to a light flickering above Magus' castle.  


The pure blue light got brighter, as they saw a figure emerge from it.

"That's Magus!" Lucca noticed.

The wizard came flying down toward the group who were all staring at him.

"But... how...?" an amazed Lucca asked. "...You went to find Schala... right?"  
"Of course. But I decided to take a break."  
"Then how did you come here? You can travel through time?"  
"Exactly. But... what are you doing here at my castle?" he asked, returning his face to his normal look.  
"We came to get Frog."  


Magus looked around to see Frog looking at him, with his sword already in his hand. 

"Still want to fight, eh?" Magus said.  
"Of course. I still owe it to Cyrus."  
"Then let's get going" the wizard grimly said, as a scythe materialized in his right hand.  
"No! Stop it!" Marle interrupted the two enemies as they ran towards each other.  


It was too late. They had already started their fight. Frog managed to block several attacks from Magus' scythe, as he took a few steps backwards.

"Is that the best you can do?" Magus grinned while he kept attacking.  
"Of course not..." 

Frog jumped into the air, as only frogs are able to do, while holding the Masamune above his head ready to rag his enemy onto it.

"Ice!" shouted Marle.

The two warriors got frozen, Frog still hanging in mid-air, but quickly falling down. The ice around him shattered as he hit the ground.

"Why did thou do that?" he angrily asked the princess who had just casted the spell on him and Magus.

"You two just can't get along, can you?" she said, pointing at the still frozen Magus.

The ice around Magus started to melt, as a small flame appeared in his hand. Within seconds he had de-frosted himself.

"Why you little...! I'll have your head for that!" Magus shouted angrily at Marle.  
"Yeah, come here and get it!"  


Magus turned and started walking to Marle, but got halted by the spiky-haired one.

"Sorry, can't allow that to happen." he said, holding his Rainbow ready to attack.

Magus slowly backed off.

"But when your boy-friend here isn't around, we'll get back to this!" he said to the blonde girl.  
"Yeah. As if."  
"And he wasn't supposed to be evil anymore?" Lucca whispered into Marle's ear.  
"Whatever."  


Crono had put his sword back where it was most of the time. Magus' scythe had already disappeared, but Frog still kept his sword in his hand, ready to fight his enemy-for-life anytime.

"So Frog, we actually came to visit you at your old hide-out. But we found a Nu instead." Lucca said.  
"The Nu's at it again? I'll take'th his guts for that this time."  
"Eh, sure. We came to pick you up for a little reunion Crono here thought of." pointing at the guy she just mentioned.  
"A reunion? As long as the mage dost not be around, I'll come."  
"Well, we were going to ask Magus too, but..."  
"That's Janus now. And I won't come if that fish-fiend comes too."  
"You're actually coming?"  
"I told you I was taking a break. But if Frog comes..."  
"Yeah I know. Can't you two just put that old revenge thing behind you? It's such a cliché."  
"I shant come if the mage comes." Frog said.  
"We'll serve some beer?" Crono suggested, trying to lure Frog with them.  
"Nay. I do not drink anymore."  
"Eh... 9th century food?"  
"The Crono Special? Sorry to tell thee, but 't tastes like three-year old milk."  
"Then how can we get you to come?"  
"Dost not let Magus here come, and I'll join you."  
"I told you, I'd like to be called Janus now!"  
"'Tis a choice of thee..."  
"Okay. So Magus won't come. But Janus will."  
"Nay!" Frog shouted. "If he comes, I shan't!"  
"Alright! So Ma... Janus won't come!" Crono said.  
"Agreed."  
"Hey? You're not letting me come?" "Frog comes, so you just won't. We probably wouldn't notice you were gone anyway. With your silence and all."  
"Hmpf. Fine. Suit yourself." Janus muttered.  


He made a few gestures in the air and muttered a few unidentifiable words. Then a gate appeared in front of him, and he stepped in. It then closed again.

"Maybe not that evil, right?" Lucca sarcastically said to herself. "You coming, Frog?"  
"Of course."  


  
  


The gate closed behind him as he stepped out into the forest. Janus looked around, then flew up into the sky, searching the horizon. In the distance there was a small cloud of smoke coming from between two mountains.

"Dalton." he said to himself.

  
  


"Hey Frog, shouldn't you go tell the queen where you are? She seemed a bit worried when we were at the castle." Marle said to Frog, who had now also got into the Epoch.  
"Nay, they dost not worry about me. They never do."  
"Huh? How do you know that for sure? She looked worried when we were there, for sure! And you just said that you thought they were worried, too!"  
"Let's just go pick up Robo, alright?"  
"Okay. Lucca, you heard him."  
"Aye, aye, miss."  
"What?"  
"Err... nothing."  


The Epoch accelerated again and disappeared into the sky. While they were traveling faster than light, Crono thought of something.

"Say Lucca, how come Magu.. uhm... Janus could travel through time all of a sudden?"  
"I don't know. Maybe he learned some more magic."  
"Suppose he came from 12000 BC?"  
"He said he was going to take a break, but left again. Probably to some other time period."  


After the Epoch exited it's hyper-speed travel, all they could see was a black void, with in the distance a small, dimmed light.

"Darn. I forgot." said Lucca. "We can't travel in groups greater than three." "I shall wait here." said Frog. "I do not have anything to do anyway."  
"You sure?"  
"Of course. I will practice my sword-skills with Spekkio."  


Lucca guided the Epoch towards the dimmed light, and stopped it next to a small bridge.

"Hey Gaspar!" Crono yelled.

He stepped out of the Epoch, the others following him.

"snore" was all that the Guru of Time emitted.  
"Asleep. Always is and always will be."  


Gaspar woke up because he was violently shaken by the spike-haired hero of time.

"Huh? What? You? What are you doing back here?" the old Guru asked. "Have you come to see me? I knew you would! I just..."  
"Sorry to interrupt you, but we accidentally got here. We traveled with three people again you see."  
"Oh. Too bad." Gaspar said, as he closed his eyes and started snoring again. "Not much of a help either."  
"Okay, can we go now?" Lucca anxiously said. She couldn't wait to see Robo again.  
"Yeah. Frog, wait here for a few hours or so and we'll be back."  
"Aye."  


  
  


When the Epoch came out of its light-speed travel, they were amazed by what they saw.

"Is this... 2300 AD?" Marle asked.  
"Of course, look at those domes. There's Proto dome and Arris dome." Lucca said. "And there's Lab 16! This new future looks amazing!" "And remember, we did all of this!" Crono proudly said.  


Lucca landed the machine in front of Proto dome, where they had first met Robo. They were welcomed by the same robotic figure too. He came walking out of the front gate as soon as the dome of the Epoch opened.

"Welcome back Lucca, Crono, Marle and Frog!" he said in his monotonous voice.  
"Robo!" Lucca said happily as she embraced the human-like android. "It's been a long time hasn't it?"  
"Yes it has. 1 year, 2 days and 15 hours."  
"You know, that sounds stupid." Crono remarked.  
"Sorry, it's in my programming."  
"Look, Robo, we came to pick you up for a reunion, we just have to get Ayla and were complete."  
"Then where is Frog?" Robo asked Lucca.  
"We left him at the End of Time for a while."  
"I see."  
"You coming?"  
"Just a second Lucca..."  


Robo walked back into the small dome. When he got out of it, another robotic machine followed him.

"Is that you, Atropos?" Lucca asked the pink-like machine behind Robo.  
"Yes indeed. I am Atropos. Have we met?"  
"Uh, Atropos, this is Lucca. I told you about her and her friends, didn't I?"  
"Ah yes, now I see! Welcome to Proto dome, miss Lucca!"  
"You can just call me Lucca, you know."  
"Impossible. That would be rude." the female robot replied.  
"Can't help noticing you two fit together quite nicely..." Crono added.  
"Lucca, if it's not too much of a problem, I would like to bring Atropos with me."  
"Of course not! Come along!"  


They entered the Epoch again, now also including Robo and Atropos.

"Uh... Lucca... it's getting a little cramped in here." said Crono, whose face was pressed against the thick glass of the dome.  
"Live with it."  
"Well, I'm not that comfortable either." Marle said to Lucca. She was squeezed into the back of the Epoch, not being able to take a seat.  
"Yeah, and why do the two robots get to sit? Their legs won't get tired!" Crono snapped at the one steering the Epoch.  
"Your legs won't either, all those fights... remember?"  


Crono sighed as the Epoch took off to the End of Time again. There they left Robo and Atropos behind for a while after which they set course for the prehistoric age.

  
  


"You there! Stop him!"  
"Yes sir!" the soldier replied.  


Dalton stood in front of a burned down house, guarded by two other soldiers.

"That annoying prophet." he muttered to himself.

He could see Janus fighting against several soldiers from his own army in the distance. It seemed as if the wizard was too quick for them. He finished off the henchmen one by one, without even using his magic abilities.

"Dalton, I'm coming for you!" Janus shouted from the distance as he rapidly flew towards the former left-hand of queen Zeal.  
"Guess I'll have to take care of him myself." Dalton muttered. He took his sword out of its sheath and charged at Janus.  


At the moment when Janus heaved his scythe above his head, Dalton disappeared. Janus quickly turned around, knowing this trick just too well. But he wasn't fast enough. Dalton made a deep cut into Janus' arm. Janus quickly muttered a spell and made a few quick gestures in the air, before Dalton could make his next move. It wasn't a curing spell...

"Lightning 3!"

Janus aimed his two hands towards his enemy, his arms stretched. Two beams of lightning came from his hands. Dalton was too slow to dodge them. They hit him straight in his face.

"Aaaaaagh!" the now injured man screamed. He held his hands in front of his face. "Cure!"

Dalton quickly casted a spell of his own, to cure his wounded face.

"Hehe. I've learned some new spells of my own too!" Dalton said after his face was cured.  
"Whatever. I've had it with you."  


Janus quickly started doing some more gestures while chanting rapidly.

"Neuga zieber zom..."  
"What?" Dalton shouted.  
"...Now the chosen time has come..."  
"You're crazy! You can't just..."  
"...Exchange this world for..."  


Dalton tried to escape, but he was too late.

"...Eternity!!" Janus shouted as he completed the spell.

The sky suddenly turned pitch black, clouds blocking the light from the sun. The soldiers who were standing in the burned down village quickly started to run into all directions, bumping into each other.

The ground below Janus' feet started to crack open and a few henchmen already fell into the cracks, which were now starting to form a large hole.

"You can't escape now, Dalton!" Janus said while he was still feeding the spell his energy.

The cracks were now gone, replaced by a large gaping hole. Most of Daltons soldiers had already fallen in, the few who were still standing on the edge fell in as the hole grew bigger and bigger. Then a large, blue light came from the bottomless hole, swallowing everything above it.

  
  


"Look! There's Ayla! She's flying on the Dactyls!" Marle said to Lucca.

The two Dactyls flew towards the Epoch, one carrying Ayla, and the other Kino. The prehistoric woman waved at them from the distance. Lucca tried to land the Epoch in the middle of the village, and then got out.

"Lucca! Crono! Marle! You back!" Ayla welcomed her friends.  
"Hi friends!" Kino said in his own childish way.  
"What happened here?" a shocked Lucca asked.  


They hadn't noticed before, but there was now snow everywhere, most of the tropical plants were gone, and most of the animals went with them. It seemed that Azala's last words had come true. Ayla and Kino now wore fur coats, although Ayla still had her old animal tail hanging around her neck.

"It get very cold here after Reptites defeated. Many animals gone too. Having hard time surviving." Ayla said, her face looking to the ground. "But you not worry! You back here, we have party!"  
"As long as there won't be another one of those soup-eating contests, count me in!" an excited Crono said, still remembering the last time.  
"No. This time WE'RE having a party!" Marle said. "We're bringing everyone together again!"  
"You for sure? Sound fun! Ayla come! Kino too!"  
"Just come along then!"  


Ayla send the Dactyls away and they all got into the Epoch again. It wasn't as cramped as the first time, but still...

"Uh, Kino, could you make a little more room?" Marle asked the caveman.

Kino tried to move a little, but accidentally touched an already angry Lucca.

"Hey! Get off me, you stupid Neanderthal!"

Kino shuffled back again.

"She... you know... PMS?" he asked Marle.  
"See Crono, these cavemen aren't stupid at all. They can figure out things faster than you."  
"What? You're calling me slow?!"  



	3. Nightmares and pies, the good stuff

**Reunions and Rainfall**  
_By Exile_

  
  


_Disclaimer: All of the characters used in this fanfic, except for Ryen who makes a short appearance in chapter 5, are property of Square. Any references to other stories, except mine, are purely coincidental. If you insist it's otherwise, I'll let Marle take you shopping in Medina._

  


* * *

  
**Chapter 3: Nightmares and pies, the good stuff**

The blue glare disappeared, and Janus ended his shielding spell. The greenish shield around him dematerialized. Below him was a large hole, probably a few kilometers in diameter. He was the only one for miles around.

"Good you are still of some use to me, Lavos." the mage said to himself. "Let's just hope Dalton hasn't escaped again."

He created another gate in front of him and entered it.

  
  


Gaspar woke up when he heard Epoch's engines come to a halt. He saw more visitors coming out of it than he expected.

"What do you think this is? A motel?"  
"Sorry about that Gaspar. But we're taking them all to our time now." Marle said to the Guru of Time.  
"Good. When I wake up, this place will be totally empty again."  
"Yeah, as if you'd ever notice. I bet you were sleeping until we arrived to bring Frog here didn't you?"  


The Guru didn't answer Crono's question, but fell into a deep sleep again. It was indeed crowded there, even more when they were on the quest to destroy Lavos.

"Where Frog-guy?" Ayla asked.  
"He went practicing with Spekkio. They ought to be back in here." Marle answered, while opening the door to Spekkio's room.  


Inside, she saw a completely different decoration than she was used to. There were no simple fences bordering the square room, but there was a smooth pink-colored wall surrounding them, with little flowers painted all over the place. Also, a small fountain stood in the middle, with a water spewing Kilwala on top of it. Then Spekkio himself appeared with a quick flash and some fancy smoke-effects.

"Hiya! Long time no seen you guys! Came to practice too?" the immortal Master of War asked the ones who stepped into his room.  
"What in Earth's name have you done with your room?" an amazed Marle asked.  
"I decided to brighten things up a bit. Staring into a black void isn't that healthy for your mind you know. Just look at what happened to Gaspar."  
"I can understand that, but why pink?"  
"And why flowers?" Lucca added.  
"I always liked pink, it's my favorite color. And flowers, well, they're kinda pretty. All those colors you know..."  


Marle blinked her eyes a few time, then turned around to quickly walk away from the seemingly psychotic Nu that was supposed to be the Master of War.

"Riiight..."  
"Hey! Don't leave! I've got something I want to show to you. Follow me."  
"Follow you? Where..."  


Crono, Lucca and Marle disappeared with another flash before Crono could finish his line. They reappeared in what looked like a perpetually long hallway with an endless number of doors on both sides of it.

"...are you gonn... wow! Look at all those doors!" Crono exclaimed.  
"Hehe." Spekkio grinned. "I always wanted to show you this. It's called the Hallway of Dimensions. Each door gives you a short view of what other dimensions look like. Here, check out this door." Spekkio said when he opened one of the doors.  


They couldn't believe what they saw.

"Is that... Janus?" Lucca said, as she stared with her eyes wide open in amazement into the door.  
"I'm afraid so." Spekkio answered as he gasped in horror.  


In the door they saw a pale looking figure, with short blonde hair in a pony-tail just like Marle's. He also wore the exact same outfit as Marle usually did, the greenish baggy pants with a matching green tube-top. They also saw Leene's bell and someone about to run into the female version of Janus. Spekkio quickly closed the door, leaning with his back against it.

"Ack! That was... disturbing!!" the Nu-like form said, shivering a little.  
"W..W...Was.. t..t..." Marle stuttered.  


Crono also gasped in horror, still remembering the sight he just saw.

"Yes it was... That's just sick..." Crono said, heavily depressed by this memory that would forever haunt his mind.

"Let's get out of here!" Spekkio said just before he teleported them back to his room.

  
  


The figure took of his cape and gloves and laid down on his bed.

"Aah.. just what I need, a good nap..."

Janus dozed off. He had returned to his castle hoping to get some well-earned rest. So he thought...

He began to see shadows forming in front of him. But even as they came closer, they still remained pitch black. He couldn't recognize who they were, until one spoke.

"...Are you sure you're doing the right thing?..."

He couldn't recognize the voice either. It seemed as if it was far away, even though the figure stood right in front of him. The shadows then mingled together into one shape, a very big one with spikes sticking out of it. He heard a loud roar and the shadow vanished. Then he saw himself as a child, running away from something he couldn't identify either. He ran, avoiding the rocks and branches lying on the ground, which made him think it was in some forest. The trees and bushes which passed by seemed nothing more then a blur. The young version of Janus started screaming, as he saw a cliff approaching. It didn't seem as if he was able to stop, he just kept running and screaming, looking at what he was about to fall into.

Just when he was about to fall, he was grabbed by another shadow, which was now holding him at the back of the shirt he wore. The shadow spoke again.

"...Tell me, how did you manage to do that? You couldn't have just..."

The shirt was then ripped apart because it couldn't hold the child any longer, and he fell into the deep canyon. His scream echoed against the side of the cliff walls.

He woke up, sweating and panting heavily.

  
  


"So you're telling me he came out of a gate?"  
"Yep. A blue one, just like the ones we used on our adventure." Crono answered to Spekkio.  
"Time traveling with magic... never thought it was possible."  
"How do you think he learned that?" Lucca asked.  


Spekkio thought for a moment.

"Must have something to do with the Epoch. You see, when you travel through time with that thing, it must generate enough energy to create a small hole in the space-time-continuum. Just big enough for the Epoch to fit through. If Janus can also create that much energy in the right way, he should be able to do the same thing the Epoch here can do."  
"Amazing!" Lucca exclaimed while shifting her glasses.  
"Well, that's fine for him. Can we go and have that party now?" Crono asked. It was clear that he was anxious to go.  
"Keep your pants on! Spekkio, could you tell me more of how that energy is generated?"  
"No way! That's mine and Belthasars secret!"  
"Come on! Please? Pretty please?" Lucca almost begged.  
"No! Do what you want to get it out of me, it won't work!"  


Lucca grinned evilly. Spekkio's face (or his whole body, for that matter) started to turn pale.

"I've seen that look on your face before! I'm outta here!" the Nu said.

He immediately teleported himself inside his own room, locking his door.

"Hmpf. I bet he sees dead people too."  
"Come on! Don't be so rude!" Marle said to the now grumpy Lucca.  
"I don't see any reason not to. That Spekkio is just a big blue ball of lard."  
"Ok, we know what he is, now lay down a bit. Let's just bring everybody to our time."  


They got everyone back to 1000 AD, three at a time with Crono serving as the driver. They were all gathered in Guardia forest at the moment.

"You guys go to the castle, we have some business to take care of." Marle said to everyone while standing next to Crono.  
"What business? I just wanna party!" Crono said.  


Marle looked into Crono's eyes for a few seconds.

"Oh, that business."

  
  


"Now I would like to hear what Taban has to say to this."  
"Of course sir."  


Taban was sitting in a large conference room which was barely decorated apart from the Guardia banner on the end of the long table. Many more people were sitting on the table, with a guy in an expensive suit on the end of the table. Taban stood up and cleared his throat.

"First off, we discovered that the decay of the forest is caused because of the bad ground on which it has been growing for decades. As we all know, the forest was replanted 400 years ago by a creature we know as 'Robo'. But before that, there was nothing more than desert were the forest now is."  
"Of course." the chairman said.  
"The ground is in a bad state because it consists mainly out of a thin upper layer made out of normal sand, but everything below it is made out of solid rock. I believe this layer of rock was probably lava erupted from a volcano of some sort."  
"But that's nothing new, we know volcanoes existed already." a guy from the other end of the table said.  
"Yes, but we know that this layer of rock reaches a depth of up to 10 kilometers, which is abnormal for any normal volcano."  
"And your point being?" the chairman asked.  
"There used to be a large crater, if not a gap, where the forest now is."  
"You suppose this happened because of a meteorite impact?"  


The other people were quickly taking notes of what was being said.

"Could be. But a meteorite of such a size would've smashed the earth into a million pieces."

A woman suddenly ran into the room, with two guards trying to catch her.

"Taban! Taban!" Lara shouted at her husband while running towards him. "It's Lucca! She used that flying-machine again!"  
"What? Sir, could you please excuse me? I have already told you everything I have found out about the current situation."  
"Of course Mr. Ashtear."  


Taban and Lara ran off together.

  
  


"You dolt! Gimme back that lipstick!"  
"Not when we're training! I told you before!"  
"Quiet you two, I'm eating!"  


That's obvious. One women with a desperate need for make-up attributes, a guy who only spends his time training and another one who needs a meal every hour. Flea, Slash and Ozzie.

"Go eat somewhere else! We don't need to be disgusted by your 'ways' of eating, or whatever you want to call it." Flea remarked.  
"What do you mean by that? I eat just like everybody else does!"  
"That's what you think!" Slash interrupted. "You use both your hands to stuff a complete pie in your gaping mouth. That's not eating, that's just a failed attempt at filling that incredibly huge body of yours!"  
"You take that back! I don't have a huge body!"  
"You can't even stand on your own two feet and you're wider then you are tall! You have to use a floating spell if you want to go somewhere!"  
"Oh, stop whining you two." Flea said while she was using a new found piece of lipstick. "Ozzie, you get lost or I'll take you shopping in Medina next time, and Slash you take a rest before your spine snaps out of itself."  
"Who do you think you are, telling me what to do!" an angry Ozzie said, his whole body moving when he spoke. "You're not my boss!"  
"No, after Magus left, nobody is. So get lost or I'll make you!"  


A defeated Ozzie took the plate with the cake on it cake in his hands and floated away into the hallway. He still remembered what Flea did last time when she wanted him out of her sight. And it wasn't pretty, involving make-up and all.

"If only Magus were here, he'd keep things quiet around here."  
"What did you just say? I heard that!" Flea shouted behind him. "Come back here this instant!"  


Ozzie floated back into the room Flea and Slash used as training court, the plate with the pie on it still in his chubby hands.

"You think Magus would've kept things quiet around here? And how would he have done that? We three together are superior to him in every way."  
"You think so?" Slash said. "He defeated all three of us together last time."  
"That was him and those two kids. If that spiky-haired one hadn't been with him last time, he'd be dead by now."  
"If you want him dead so badly, then why don't you go find and kill him then?"  


Slash' eyebrows went up.

"Ozzie, that's the first good idea I have heard from you since... since... well since ever." the swordsman said. "We go and find Magus and then just kill him for fun! That would serve him right! We raised him, and then he starts telling us what to do! Glad he left."  
"You're right! You suppose he's still in his old castle?" Flea wondered.  
"Don't know. I haven't been out here since he defeated us. Let's go and see!"  
"Not until I finish eating my pie." Ozzie said, pointing at the filled plate he was holding.  


  
  


"Hehe. You two finished your 'business'?" Lucca smirked to the two who had just entered the room.

Everyone, except Ayla and Kino, were sitting on a table. They had all gone to the castle were they were welcomed by the king himself. They had settled in the knights quarters, since it hadn't been used for decades.

"Of course we did! Show it, Crono!" Marle answered, looking at Crono.  
"What?!" the inventor said. Everyone in the room looked at Crono.  
"Uh, here's the cake." He said when he pulled a large, pink cake on wheels into the room.  
"A... a cake?"  
"Of course! What did you expect?"  
"Oh, nothing... Say, did you bought that for all of us together? Must've cost a lot."  
"I didn't buy it, the chef baked it. So what do you think?"  
"Kinda... pink. I hate pink."  
"But your hair is pink too." Crono mentioned.  
"It's not pink, it's purple. Can't you see? Oh wait, I forgot. You're colorblind."  
"Just ignore her Crono. Now, put that over there in the corner, 'cause we're not going to eat it yet. We'll wait until midnight, okay?" Marle said to Crono.  
"Yes ma'am!" saluted Crono before he moved the cake to it's destined place.  


Marle and Crono also sat down at the table. Ayla was playing with some yarn she found in a closet, Frog was polishing his sword which he always seemed to carry with him and Lucca was making some strange calculations on a piece of paper. It was quiet for a few moments.

"So... Tell me Frog, what have you been doing lately?" Crono asked the swordsman.  
"Nothing important at all. I taketh' some jobs from the king, things like that."  


It was quiet again. Crono started tapping his fingers on the table. He tried to play the Guardia Castle theme.

"Are you nervous?" Robo asked Crono.  
"Oh, so you do speak. Thought you were malfunctioning."  
"Well, you normally don't say that much either, do you?"  
"And what's that supposed to mean?"  
"Nothing. You're just supposed to be mute."  
"I talk, so what? Are you supposed to care?"  


Marle saw where their conversation was going. She tried to stop it before it got out of hand.

"Quiet you two. Can't you see I'm... err... doing stuff?"  
"Okay, sorry Robo."  
"Sorry Crono."  
"Aw! You two softies!" Lucca remarked.  
"You be quiet now, Ayla try to make sweater."  
"You can do that? What happened to you? Kino hit you on the head too hard?"  
"No. Ayla just need to get mind off bad weather. Ayla not like rain."  
"Makes sense." the one with the red hair said.  


Everyone was quiet again. Even after a year, they didn't have anything to say. Strange, no? Wait a sec, I'm supposed to keep myself out if this. Let's just skip to Magu... err, Janus again.

  
  


Janus was sitting behind his desk, his scythe and cape lying next to him. He was reading a book. The title read: 'How to summon Lavos for dummies'.

"Ah! Two times the energy. Now I get it." he said to himself.

He continued to read. While he was reading he casted a few simple spells in front of his desk, probably to try out a few things he had just learned.

"Good. That'll do for today."

He put the book down on the desk and stood up from his chair. Just when he was about to pick up his cape, he heard voices coming from above.

"Why can't you remember where his room was Slash?"  
"It's been a while you know. And I think he redecorated the place."  
"Magus and redecoration? Ha! Not in his life. I designed this whole castle. I wanted to make it pink first, but he insisted on black and gray. Too bad. And what do you think of..."  
"I'm hungry! You brought some food with you Slash?"  


"Idiots. I'll show them."

Janus casted a spell and the ceiling opened up, with the three mystics falling through it. Slash and Flea landed softly, compared to the loud bang and rumble made by the fat one.

"Aww! That hurt!" Slash moaned.  
"How did you find us? We kept quiet and... oh, I see." Flea said, also rubbing her behind.  
"So, what brought you three here then?" grinned Janus.  



	4. The home wrecking crew

**Reunions and Rainfall**  
_By Exile_

  
  


_Disclaimer: All of the characters used in this fanfic, except for Ryen who makes a short appearance in chapter 5, are property of Square. Any references to other stories, except mine, are purely coincidental. If you insist it's otherwise, I'll let Alfador loose on your furniture._

  


* * *

  
**Chapter 4: The home wrecking crew**

The three mystics were lying on the ground, right before Janus' desk. He looked down at them with a slight trace of amusement on his face.

"Well, answer my question! What are you doing here?" Janus snapped at them.  
"We, uhm, came to... bring you... some cake! Yes, that's it. Some cake." Ozzie said.

Slash and Flea gave him an angry look.

"A cake eh? Show me then, Ozzie."  
"He ate it on the way over here!" Slash said, trying to save themselves.  
"I didn't eat anything!"  
"You ate that box of R&R's, remember?"  
"Well, besides that."  
"Quiet you. I know why you are here. You came to 'get rid of me', right?"  
"No! We would never want to get rid of such a wonderful, beautiful..." Slash tried to finish.  
"Shut up you. You want me dead? Be my guest."  
"Really?" Slash said when he and the other two stood up.  
"Sure, go ahead." the mage smirked.  


"Alright then! Ozzie, Flea, Triple Raid!"

  
  


"Is she home? You check her room, I'll check the basement."  
"Right."  


Taban and Lara had just gotten back from Porre, after hearing what her daughter did.

"She's not over here!"  
"Not down here either!" she shouted back.  


They met in the living room again.

"Where could she have gone?"  
"She probably took off with that flying-thing again. I'll take it apart immediately after she gets back here."  
"If she'll get back here that is."  


Taban picked up a small metal receiver from the table. When he turned it on, it started beeping.

"This'll find the machine for us. She'll probably be with it."

  
  


Lucca was playing with a little machine she had invented a while ago. It emitted small blips and beeps, annoying Crono.

"Turn that thing off! You're annoying me!"  
"Shut up. This whole reunion was your idea. Now look what happened. We're all wasting our time because we don't have anything to say to each other."  
"How could I have known that our lives were so boring? I really thought at least one of us had anything to say."  


Crono paused for a moment, realizing the irony of what he just said.

"I know, why don't we go kill Janus? I'm bored!" Frog added to the conversation.  
"It be good fight!" said Ayla.  
"You all want him dead do you? He's just a bit lonely, that's all." said Marle, compassionately.  
"And a bit arrogant, cocky, annoying... and the list goes on! Why don't you just declare your love at him while you're at it?" Lucca remarked.  
"Alright! That does it! You've been behaving like him the last few hours too, so you go take a cold shower or something, I don't care. But don't return until you've cooled down!" Marle shouted at the purple-haired one.  


"But.. but.."  
"No buts!"  
"You funny woman!" Ayla giggled.  
"Yeah sure. Now get out of here! The shower's the third door to the right!"  
"She be a though woman, not, Crono?" Frog whispered.  
"I know. She's still cute though." he smiled back.  


  
  


"We got him this time!" Slash said.  
"He's toast!" Ozzie added.  


Most of Janus' room was filled with smoke. The three mystics were just about to celebrate their victory, when Janus' voice stopped them.

"That was my favorite cape!" the wizard shouted while he put a finger through the small hole that was burned in his cape by the last attack.  
"And what are you going to do about it huh? Slash, you try and get him." Flea commanded.  
"Why me? Oh alright. It's been a while anyway."  


Slash drew his sword and attacked, surprising Janus. He barely managed to escape Slash' attack by jumping backwards.

"Come to me!" Janus said while extending his right arm. His scythe raised from the ground in the corner and flew into his hand.

They engaged in a fierce battle, which was clearly led by Janus. Slash was forced to take a few steps backwards until he jumped up and landed behind his opponent. Janus simply turned around and continued his attacks. Slash needed to take a few more steps backwards. The two spectators were following the battle.

"This isn't going good. You try and help him Ozzie!"  
"Why me? And why are you commanding us?"  
"I'm the strongest of us three so you just do as I say."  
"But I'm hungry!"  


Flea stepped behind Ozzie and planted a firm kick on his back. Ozzie flew forward, landing between the two fighters.

"Uh... Summon Cheesebu.. no not now. Err.. Lightning!"

Instead of hitting Janus with the pathetic attack, he hit Slash, sending him face forward onto Janus' desk.

"You stupid, fat, green... Just keep out of this! I can take him! This place is just... a little cramped, that's all!" Slash said while rubbing his sore face.  
"Cramped eh? Ok, follow me." Janus said.  
"Follow you? I'll bet it's just a trap!"  
"You wanna fight or not?" He said while he created a gate.  
"We'll follow you. Right Slash?" Flea said.  


Janus entered the time-gate he had created. The rest followed him into it.

  
  


"Wee! Wee! I'm a plate of sashimi! Wee!"  
"Stop that you idiot!"  
"Wee! Wee! Now I'm a bowling ball! Wee!"  
"I said stop it!"  
"Wee! Wee! And never assume that what you see and feel is real! Wee!"  
"That does it. Out you go! Out, out!"  
"Why can't I quote Doreen? I like her! She's cute!"  
"She's an alien. And it wasn't Doreen who said that. Now get lost!"  


Gaspar kicked the unsuspecting Nu into one of the pillars of light, sending him off to some unknown period of time.

He landed in the upper section of Leene Square, leaving a small crater behind.

"That stupid old timer." he muttered under his breath.  
"Well, let's see. What time is this?"  
"Aah! It's a monster!"  


Everyone started running away like crazy, thinking Spekkio was a regular monster just like all the others.

"Oh, how typical for humans." he complained.

He walked into Truce, carefully examining each of the houses numbers.

"That's 12, that's 14... There it is. 16. Hope he's home."

He changed into a human form before knocking on the door. A woman, probably in her mid-forty's, opened it.

"Hello my dear! How can I help you?" she said.  
"I'm looking for Crono. Is he home?"  
"Afraid not. Last time I saw him he went to the castle. His girlfriend lives there. Yes that's right, she's royal. Isn't Crono a fine young man? He might even marry her one day! Oh, I can't wai..."  
"That's fine ma'am, but I have to go now. Bye!"  


Spekkio quickly turned around and walked off, leaving Crono's mom standing in the door opening.

"Also typical. Not human, but typical."

  
  


Lucca walked up the stairs, muttering some words to herself.

"Why doesn't anyone ever agree with me? There must be someone like me. With the 200.000 people living on this cramped planet there must be one... I could use a shower though. All that time-traveling is exhausting for the body. Not to mention the mind."

She opened a door, stepping into the royal bathroom.

Spekkio changed shape into a little bird and flew into the sky, entering a window on the top. When he landed on the floor he changed his form back into that of a human.

"And who might you be?"

Spekkio didn't see that someone entered the room after he changed shape again.

"I'm, uh.. err.. Mick. I'm just.. a servant. And you are...?"  
"Lucca. And what are you doing in here? Doesn't look like cleaning or anything like that."  
"I'm just here to.. change.. the towels. That's right. The towels."  
"Oh. Then do that and get out of here. I need to use the shower."  
"Sure."  


Spekkio left the room. He heard the door being locked behind him.

"If that's Lucca, the rest must be here too." he said to himself while walking down the stairs.

  
  


"Let's continue this up in the air shall we?" Janus said while flying up into the sky.  
"He's leading this fight you know." Flea remarked to the swordsman.  
"I know. But I have a few tricks for him in store. Just wait."  


Slash followed Janus and they continued their fight.

"Where are we anyway? This forest doesn't seem familiar." Ozzie asked the magician next to him.  
"Don't know. That fog that's always around seems to be gone. That's an improvement to say the least. It makes your make-up go off in no-time."  
"Whatever. I'm hungry. Summon Unhealthy Food!"  


A box of snacks appeared with a puff of smoke in front of Ozzie.

"Want some?"  
"And put on weight like you? No way."  


"Slash Blaze!"

The attack was much stronger than it's name suggested. It slammed into Janus' stomach, colliding with his armor. He flew off into the distance fast, still screaming.

"Now I've got him!" the attacker said. He followed the smoke trail Janus had left behind, with Flea and Ozzie following him from below.

  
  


"This is plain-out boring. Let's play a game or something." Crono said.  
"What game? We only have chess." answered Marle.  


Everything suddenly started to shake. The chandeliers hanging on the ceiling started to wobble and some paintings fell from the wall.

"What the hell is that?" a surprised Marle said. She soon got her answer as they heard a loud bang coming from above. A few meters before them the ceiling bursted open and another chandelier fell through, shattering in numerous pieces. Luckily, no one was standing below it.

"Aah! We're being attacked!" Frog shouted in panic.  
"Kino not like what happening.." added Kino.  
"Kino dummy!" the prehistoric woman replied.  


Ayla immediately jumped a the chandelier and from there onto the floor above them.

"It be blue-haired one!" they heard coming from above.

They quickly ran up the stairs too see what caused the castle to suffer like that. They saw Janus lying in a hole made in the stairs of the entrance hall. He seemed to be unconscious. The rest of the front wall was a complete mess, with wooden beams and other sorts of rubble lying all over the floor, guards running around like crazy and servants trying to clean things up. Slash came flying to the castle from the distance.

"What the hell happened here?" the king shouted, looking at the mess. The chancellor stood beside him.  
"Whoa! It's you guys!"  
"Slash? And what are you doing here? This is getting way too confusing!" Marle said.  
"He led us here." he said while pointing at Janus, who was now slowly waking up.  
"Ugh... Where am I now?" Janus said, still recovering from the blow.  
"You're at Guardia castle. Or what's left of it." Crono smirked.  


  
  


"What was that?" Lucca said, looking around her. She had exited the shower when she heard the loud noise coming from the front of the castle. "An earthquake?"

Some servants came running by.

"Hey you! What's going on here?" Spekkio asked to one of them.  
"Something... or someone wrecked the front of the castle! They're evacuating the entire building!". The servant ran off again.  
"Evacuation? I'm out of here!"  


Spekkio ran down the stairs. Lucca followed him to the entrance hall, where they saw the same sight as the others.

"Let's continue this." said Janus while he was getting up. He extended his right arm again and his scythe floated into it.  
"Hey! No fighting in here!" Marle shouted.  
"Get away from him! Janus is mine to kill!" added Frog.  


Janus ignored them and flew outside. Slash followed him and they continued their battle again.

"I don't believe it! He just ignored us!" Marle said.  
"What I'm wondering is how they got here." Lucca said while she walked to the others. Spekkio followed her.  
"Don't care. Let's go see how they're doing." said Crono as he stepped outside, carefully avoiding the rubble. The rest followed him.  


After the blow Janus had received from Slash he wasn't fighting very good anymore. Slash managed to block every attack from him, with some of his own aimed at Janus.

"Look! Janus actually be losing! Go Slash!" Frog shouted to the two in the air.  
"Shove it you." Spekkio said. "I'm studying them."  
"What for? You probably don't even know them." Lucca said.  
"I know more than you think."  


Janus started to use some of his magic to gain the upper hand in the fight. He went a few meters backwards and started casting a spell.

"Neuga zieber zom..."

"Is he doing what I think he is?" Spekkio said.

"Now the chosen time has come..."

"What? Is he summoning Lavos?" asked Lucca.  
"Yes he is! The idiot!"  


"Exchange this world for..."

Janus couldn't finish the spell, because Slash had already closed in on him. Janus couldn't block the attack in time. His armor got cut in half, the two parts falling down to the ground below them.

"What? How'd you do that?" an amazed Janus asked his attacker.  
"Simple. Some of Flea's magic can do wonders to my Slasher swords." he grinned back.  


Slash didn't take the time to wait until Janus was ready. He attacked again, with more effect this time. Janus got a deep cut in his chest.

"He's losing! Can't you see? We've got to help him!" said Marle.  
"Help him? The one that destroyed my life? And not to mention those numerous people he tortured, killed, god knows what?" Frog added.  
"Well, I think he's changed over time. With that Lavos thing and all."  
"I remember you saying that before..."  


Slash used a small magic attack, but aimed it at Janus' now severely wounded chest again. Janus fell down, unconscious again because of the damage that Slash had done to him in such a short amount of time.

"Let's get over there and help him!" Marle said as she runned over to the spot where Janus had fallen down. Crono sighed and decided to followed her. "She doesn't know what she's doing!" Frog said. But he didn't follow the two. The rest stood there, waiting what was going to happen next.

Ozzie and Flea finally managed to catch up with Slash and Janus.

,p>"Get away from him!" Flea yelled at Marle, who was trying to heal Janus.  
"Come over here and make me!"  


Flea did exactly as Marle suggested and punched her in her stomach. Marle had to take some steps backwards, ending the curing spell she was trying to cast. Crono saw this happening while he came running towards them. His response was one of his stronger magic attacks.

"Lightning 2!"

Not only did he hit Flea, Ozzie also got caught in the lightning storm Crono had created. He got slammed into a tree, forcing to drop his precious box of snacks.

After Crono's attack had ended, Slash came down to Janus. He put one foot on his chest and held the tip of his sword to his neck, waiting for him to wake up. Janus slowly opened his eyes and saw the face of Slash in front of him, grinning widely.


	5. Vengeance of the dead

**Reunions and Rainfall**  
_By Exile_

  
  


_Disclaimer: All of the characters used in this fanfic, except for Ryen who makes a short appearance in chapter 5, are property of Square. Any references to other stories, except mine, are purely coincidental. If you insist it's otherwise, I'll make you listen to Ozzie singing 'To Far Away Times'._

  


* * *

  
**Chapter 5: Vengeance of the dead**

"Enjoying it now, Magus?"  
"You..."

Janus was lying on the ground, in front of Guardia castle. Slash stood with one foot on his chest, and the tip of his sword was very close to Janus' neck.

"I really enjoyed this little fight. Seems you didn't. Hehe." smirked Slash.

"He's finished. That's for sure." said Spekkio, not addressing someone in particular.

The grin on Frog's face widened.

"I always hoped I would be the one to defeat Janus, but this is fine for me too. Can't wait 'till he does it!" he anxiously said.

From the distance they saw Slash make his final move. Janus' sight slowly faded away.

  
  


Somewhere in the distance, she saw smoke coming from between two mountains. The backpack she was carrying didn't help in making the trip easier. For the past few hours, all she had seen was mountains on the right, wasteland on the left. Not even the occasional monster trying to rob you, just nothing at all. Well, maybe the wind, but it wasn't what it had been before. Not that it would keep you sane, but nevertheless, it would've been much more familiar if it still was around. She was almost there. Just a few hundred meters more.

The small town was hustling with activity. Many people were going about their own business, some were carrying water, others tried to sell their supplies to other by passers, or just taking a walk. One of the merchants came walking to her.

"Would you like to buy some fresh fish? It was caught just this morning!"  
"Uh, no thanks. I don't have any money."  


The merchant quickly turned around to find someone else to sell his wares to. The woman walked around, trying to find the nearest inn. She entered it, the smell of smoke and ale coming towards her when she opened the door. The inn was just as busy as the rest of the village, mostly with men getting drunk about their problems of life.

"Excuse me sir," she asked the bartender. "Could I please get a room?"  
"Of course. That'll be 10 gold pieces." he replied.  
"I, uhm... I'm sorry, but I don't have any money."  
"No can-do then."  
"But I came all the way from Porous! I'm exhausted!"  
"Let this woman have some sleep. I'll pay."  


A tall man, about 5 foot tall had dropped in on the conversation. He had long, black hair, and wore dark blue pants, with a simple black shirt on top of it. The brown boots he wore had a black line across them, from top to bottom.

"I.. why thank you sir. I appreciate it."  
"Don't mention it. By the way, my name is Ryen."  
"Nice to meet you, Ryen."  


She yawned, taking a full ten seconds.

"I suggest you go to sleep."  
"Same thing here. I'll.. see you around. Bye."  
"Of course. Bye."  


The woman walked up the stairs. She entered the room and put her backpack on the floor, next to the bed. She lied down, falling asleep almost immediately.

  
  


"Have you seen that woman before?"  
"No. I've never been to Porous before." answered Ryen. "She does seem familiar though."

The two men were sitting at a table in the corner of the inn. Each of them had their own glass of ale in front of them.

"What could she be doing here? No money, probably no home either."  
"Looking for a job maybe?"  
"In this town? For a woman? I don't think so."  


A man entered the inn. He looked around the room. When he saw Ryen he walked over to his table.

"What is it?"  
"We need your help... again."  
"What for? I'm in no mood for cleaning up that mess of your boss again."  
"It's no mess this time. He wants you to go to Porous."  
"I'm not going."  
"He said he'd pay you a .. uhm.. considerable amount of money."  


Ryen thought for a moment. He did need something to get by at the moment, his job at the docks didn't pay that much.

"How much exactly?" he asked.  
"He didn't say."  
"Where is he now?"  
"At the docks. His latest shipment came in."  
"Okay, I'll come with you."  


He said goodbye to his friend, paid his tab and left the inn.

  
  


She was awakened by the noise coming from outside. She got up and opened one of the windows. It was a dark night, there were no stars to be seen in the sky at all. From the distance a bright light seemed to shine, with smoke flowing into the air from it. It was a fire. She took her backpack from the floor and put it on her back. Then she went down the stairs to see that the tavern was almost completely empty, except for a few drunkards still hanging at the bar.

"Where did they all go?" she asked to the bartender.  
"The fire. Didn't you hear?"  
"Yes, I saw it outside. Could you tell me where it is exactly?"  
"The docks. Just walk straight to it. Can't miss."  


She quickly left the inn, walking to the docks, following the simple directions the bartender gave her. Other people were also heading towards the inferno in the distance.

Arriving there, she saw that most of the ships and houses near the docks were burning, with people around it trying to put out the fires by using just buckets, which wasn't helping much.

"What happened here?" she asked to a by passer.  
"No time!" he replied as he ran past her.  


She looked around, finding a way to help, but no one paid her any attention. Until she heard a voice coming from above.

"You fools!"

She looked up, and saw someone with.. and eye patch floating in the sky. That could only be Dalton.

"You can't put out the fires now! It's too late! Bwahaha!"

Dalton laughed in his own, wicked way. He looked over the chaos he had created. In the distance he saw the woman staring at him. He immediately recognized her, by the blue color of her hair.

"Aha! So miss Schala decided to help too!" he said when he descended to the ground and walked over to her.

"What do you want? And why have you done this? I thought they killed you!"  
"And I thought you were dead too... Seems you survived."  
"Does it matter? Why did you do this? Answer me!"  
"Tisk tisk... you have to take it easy. There's nothing you can do right now."  
"Yes I can! Don't think I wont."  
"What? Your magic? Without Lavos, it's useless. You know that."  
"Then how come you can still use magic?"  
"I wasn't born with it. I learned it myself. But, no time for chit-chat. Say goodbye!"  


He muttered a few unidentifiable words, and before Schala could react, she disappeared with in flash of light.

"What did you do to her?"

Ryen came running towards Dalton, who had his usual grin on his face.

"Nothing. I just teleported her away. She might be useful."  
"She was Zeal's daughter wasn't she?"  
"Well noticed. And why aren't you helping the rest?"  
"Because you said that it would help anyway right? And I'll rather take my chances with you! You said it was innocent!" he said, and he unsheathed his sword.  
"Ah, don't think I'm that easy."  


Dalton made a few gestures before Ryen could do anything, and he got him by a black orb falling out of the sky, coming from nowhere. The orb disappeared just as fast as it came.

"Better take your chances with me, he wasn't worthy anyway."

Dalton turned around to see Janus floating several meters above him.

"The false prophet. Seems nobody is dead after all." he smirked.  
"Oh, you will be soon."  
"You two, get him!" Dalton commanded. Two of his henchmen who helped put on the fire engaged Janus.  
"That annoying prophet." he muttered to himself.  


  
  


"Is he .. dead?" Marle asked, still recovering from Flea's punch. For someone with a female appearance, she sure could pack quite a punch. The dead body of Janus was lying before her, with Slash standing with one foot still on top of it.

"We did it! We finally did it! Way to go Slash!"

Flea runned up to Slash, suddenly stopping in front of him.

"On second thought, kissing you wouldn't be a pleasant thing..." she said under her breath.  
"Come again?"  
"Never mind that... let's celebrate! Coming, Ozzie?"  


Ozzie was looking around the place, as if looking for something.

"I lost my snacks! They're gone!" he sneered.

Flea sighed.

"We've got lot's more of those at our fort!" she said while she grabbed Ozzie at his tail and ran off with him. Slash followed.

Marle and Crono walked over to Janus' corpse.

"We've got to do something. We can't just let him lie there like that." said Marle.  
"Tried reviving him?" suggested Crono.  
"I can't do that. He's been killed by his own enemy, not his."  
"Slash is our enemy too. Forgot that?"  
"I know, but it's just that... I... this is hard to explain Crono. I just can't do it."  


Lucca and Spekkio came running to them.

"He's dead isn't he?" the inventor asked while she raced to the dead body of Janus. Spekkio just stood from a distance and watched.  
"What does it look like! Poor Janus."  
"'Poor Janus'? You know what he..." Crono tried saying, but got interrupted.  
"I know what he did. Now he's dead! Now help me bury him somewhere okay?" snapped Marle. Crono shrugged his shoulders and followed her orders.  


  
  


"Wake up! Wake up you brat!"  
"But... I can't go to the fair yet..."  


Dalton kicked the girl in her stomach. She opened her eyes and coughed, grasping to the spot Dalton had kicked her. When she stopped coughing, Dalton spoke again.

"Schala, have you any idea why you are here?"  
"Why... are you... doing this..."  


She hadn't quite recovered yet. She could examine her surroundings though, and noticed she was in a room with metal walls, covered in rust. There were no sources of light, except for the small candle Dalton was holding in front of Schala.

"I'll explain later, you've got to patch me up. And make it quick!"  
"What? What do you mean by that?"  


Dalton brought the candle closer to his face, revealing the bloody cover

"And there's plenty more where that came from! Now, heal me!"  
"Not in my life!"  


Dalton kicked her again. This time, Schala saw it coming and managed to absorb the blow a bit.

"Your turn..." he said.  
"Never! Why should I heal you? Can't you use a tonic?"  
"I'm afraid I can't my dear. Now, I'm not going to ask this again..."  


She knew he'd kill her, even if it meant that he wouldn't get healed, so she casted Aura on him.

"Do you expect that's enough? Cast Heal 2, now!"

He kicked her again. Not that hard, but she could still feel the pain. Not knowing what to do anyway, she did what her captor had asked, and fully healed him.

"Yes... that feels much better..."  
"Where... am I?"  
"Where this is? The Blackbird of course. Now, don't worry, I wont kill you. Yet..." he grinned.  
"Wait! You can't leave me here like this!"  
"Yes I can. Goodbye."  


Dalton turned around, opened a door and closed it behind him again. She was trapped in the remains of the Blackbird. But how could that be? The Blackbird had crashed into the ocean after Crono and his companions had destroyed it. She had heard villagers talk about it when she was staying in Porous.

She casted a small light-spell, which lit up half of the room. There was nothing there, except for an air-duct. But it was welded shut. She couldn't reach it anyway. There was no way out of.

  
  


"Well then. That's it." said Marle while looking at the grave in front of her.  
"Now what do we do?" asked Crono.  
"I don't know. I think we should tell the others about it."  
"I think Frog will be quite happy with this. If I'm correct, he should now be turned into his original human form again, now that Janus is dead." Lucca said.  


At the same time, they heard a loud "Yahooo!" coming from the direction of the castle. They also heard Ayla shout that he didn't wear any clothes anymore. And something about being both more and less tasty at the same time.

"I think that's the confirmation. Let's bring them the news." Lucca said.

They walked back to the castle. Marle waited at the grave for a while, until she also turned around and left.

Raindrops started falling onto the cross which was placed on the grave by Marle. It read:

  


_Here rests Janus, prince of Zeal_

  


Spekkio came out of his hiding place in the bushes and walked over to the grave.

"Gaspar isn't going to like this..."


	6. Do you remember me?

**Reunions and Rainfall**  
_By Exile_

  
  


_Disclaimer: All of the characters used in this fanfic, except for Ryen who makes a short appearance in chapter 5, are property of Square. Any references to other stories, except mine, are purely coincidental. If you insist it's otherwise, I'll let Lavos' evil pet porcupine loose on you._

  


* * *

  


Some words beforehand:  
I updated the previous chapter of this fanfic a long time ago. Time passed quickly I guess, since my writing skills have improved quite a lot since then. So I decided to try and pick this story up again, despite the fact that the first few chapters are horribly written. While re-reading those chapters in order to get a bearing on where this story was going (call it amnesia or whatever) my right hand smacked onto my forehead numerous times. Ah well, we all have to start somewhere.  
Still, my writing skills need to improve a lot (in order to make writing more fun that is), which gives me more reason to pick up this piece of... well... fill in the blanks yourself. There should be a noticeable difference in both style, grammar and general word-usage. But remember of course, English isn't my native language and I'm only so-so old (real age hidden in a frail attempt to avoid shame). So enjoy, as long as you want to.  
Oh, and those two reviews I got while this story was buried way down in the depths of FanFiction.net's Chrono Trigger list also helped me get some more motivation for it, especially since I don't want it to seem that this story ends with the previous chapter. That would be a rather tragic ending now wouldn't it?  
So there ya go. Make the best out of it.

* * *

  
**Chapter 6: Do you remember me?**

"This rain is just insane! We've had nothing but heavy rain since we buried the guy."  
"Stop complaining Lucca. And he's got a name you know." answered Marle.  


Lucca sighed, and went back to work. They were repairing the castle, after it had been 'attacked' by Janus and Slash.

"Hey, where'd Mick go?"  
"What are you talking about Lucca?" asked Marle.  
"There was this servant in the bathroom, changing the towels or something. He followed me to the fight, but now he's gone. I haven't seen him come back."  
"He probably just went home." said Crono.  
"Servants live in the castle, you dummy."  
"Oh. Never mind then."  


  
  


"Hey Gaspar! Wake up!"

Spekkio had returned to his home, the End of Time, to inform Gaspar of the bad news.

"What is it?" the Guru of Time muttered.  
"You said Magus would eventually become... well you know, what you said last time."  
"Yes. So?"  
"He can't be if he's dead, right?"  
"You're saying he's dead?"  
"Exactly. Slash killed him in 1000 AD."  


Gaspar looked up, his eyes somewhat larger than normal.  


"Strange..." the Guru pondered. "Something's wrong with the time-axis."  


Gaspar walked over to the place where the pillars of light used to be, and pulled out a device from his coat. He pushed a few buttons and large pillar of light appeared.

"You stay here Spekkio, I'm taking a look for myself."  
"Right Gasp."  
"And don't call me Gasp."  


The Guru entered the pillar and vanished into it.

A few moments later he exited from a gate in Guardia forest. After the gate had closed again, the Guru walked over to the open field in the north-east of the forest. He immediately saw the grave in a corner of the field.  


"So he's right."  


He walked closer to the grave and inspected it closely. The lines Marle had written on the cross confirmed his grim thoughts. He turned around and walked off to the castle.  


  


_Author's note: Here I picked up on writing again, see if you can notice any style differences_ ;)

  


Arriving there, he saw some guy without any clothes on dance with a woman he recognized to be Ayla. Ignoring them, he continued to walk into the castle, passing the rubble and trying not to bump into the servants frantically running around. He headed for the Knights Quarters.  


"Well now kids, would anyone care to tell me what happened here?"  


The odd bunch off teenagers turned around.  


"G... Gaspar? Is that you? ...In sun-light?" Lucca said.  
"Uhm... yes I am. Now, I'm not here for a nice chat, but I saw something I didn't like outside."  
"Oh, you mean Janus' grave..." Marle said, her head down.  
"Yes exactly. I take it he got... killed somehow?"  
"Yeah. Somehow, Slash, Flea and Ozzie managed to make their way in this time, and Janus also. They probably hunted him down and fought with him..." Marle grimly said.  
"Well well..." pondered Gaspar.  


The Guru of Time sat down on a chair next to Crono and started thinking, without saying or muttering a single word like he usually did.  


"Why did you come here?" Crono finally asked the guru, after several moments of silence.  


Gaspar looked up.  


"What do you think? Janus died, can't have that happening."  
"But how do you know he died?"  
"He stays at the End of Time you goofhead. He can see every timeline from there with his uhm... Guru-abilities." Lucca said.  
"That is correct Lucca." Gaspar supported. "And as it is, Janus is not allowed to die in this timeline. The time-axis has gone out of control, it happens some times."  
"So we are given the task to fix it?" Robo said.  
"Correct again. But, just you three." Gaspar said while he pointed at Crono, Lucca and then Marle.  


  
  


*Huff... puff...*  
"Come on now Ozzie, can't let them catch up with us!" Flea said while he kicked Ozzie in his back again to get him moving forwards.  
"I... just... don't..."  
"...have the smooth body lines for it?" Slash grinned.  
"Why... you... rotten... festering..."  
"Give it up lardball. You can't make an insult." Slash smirked at the panting lizard.  


Ozzie stopped his levitation spell and dropped to the ground, tumbling forward while still panting.  


"Hey you! Get up and get moving!"  
Flea kicked Ozzie again, this time in his exposed rear. He didn't budge.  
"Oh great. He's out of it."  
Flea sat down under a tree and started sulking.  
"Oh come on now, he'll wake up sometime soon. Besides, those pesky kids haven't even tried to chase us. They're long gone."  


They rested for a while, letting Ozzie lie flat on his face in a pool of mud.  


"Say Slash..."  
"Hmm?"  
"Didn't you notice anything strange about this?"  
"About what? This forest?"  
"Yeah that too. But not only this forest is odd, the entire world is. Did you saw the clothes those people at Guardia Castle wore? That was just far ahead of time. I should know."  
"Wait a minute... are you saying...?"  
"I'm afraid so."  


They heard some bubbling noises coming over from Ozzie's face. He was starting to wake up.  


"Oh good. He's coming by."  


"What the hell did you two do to me?!" Ozzie spouted while noticing the awkward position he was in.  
"Nothing. You just passed out in that pool of mud. That's all." Slash smirked.  


Ozzie casted a cleaning spell on himself. Wherever that came from nobody knows though.  


"I'm hungry."  
"Again? What does it take to stuff _your_ face?" Slash retorted.  


Ignoring the comment, Ozzie summoned a yellow object with holes in it. It was a big piece of cheese.  


"Haha! Here's to the ways of life -- death, decay and cheese!" he said, while starting to munch away on the dairy product.  
"Disgusting..." Flea said while turning his face away.  


  
  


Crono put the last object, a flashlight, into his backpack and closed it. He swung the object around and onto his back, then turned to the rest.  


"Well guys, guess this is it. Again." he said.  
Gaspar raised an eyebrow, but remained silent.  
"Yeah, time for another crazy adventure. That's all we need right now." Lucca said, sarcastically.  


The group of three waved their goodbyes and walked out of the Castle's half-rebuilt front gate together. After several meters though, Crono abruptly stopped, turned around and ran back over to Gaspar.  


"I ehm... was kinda wondering... where do we go anyway?" he sheepishly grinned.  
Gaspar sighed. "Kids these days, so hasty..."  


Lucca and Marle also came back to hear what Gaspar had to say.  


"What did you need last time when you wanted to revive a deceased person?" Gaspar asked.  
"We used that weird egg-like thing, the Chrono Trigger." Marle said.  
"Exactly." Gaspar continued. "But what else did you need to use it?"  
Lucca thought for a second. "We needed a Crono clone, right?"  
"Almost. You needed a clone of the deceased person, and the person must be important to the space-time-continuum. And since Janus already is that important, all you need for now is a clone of him."  
"Okay then. Let's go and find that Norstein Bekkler guy who makes those clones." Crono suggested.  


Once more, they said their goodbyes and walked into the forest.  


The weather had become quite a lot better now. The sun shone bright, little clouds in the sky, birds singing their tunes... All in all, too sappy to be real.  
While the group travelled through the forest, Lucca raised another one of her questions.  


"Hey guys, do you know why Janus is so important to the space-time-continuum?" she asked the rest.  
"Why, he's the only one with long, blue, flowing hair of course!" Marle pronounced happily.  


Crono raised an eyebrow at that remark, but soon came with a somewhat better answer.  


"I get the feeling there's a lot Gaspar isn't telling us. He seems to know that Janus can suddenly travel through time but never found it odd that he learned that seemingly impossible thing so quick. He also managed to get here while the gates to the End of Time are closed."  


It went quiet in the group. The sun started to go down below the horizon, which lit the forest in a dark, but moody way.  


They walked on for another half an hour, until they reached the end of the forest.  


"May I suggest we sleep at our place? It's still quite a while until we reach Truce and it's pretty much night already." Lucca suggested.  
"Sure thing. I take it your parents aren't back yet?" Crono asked.  
"Nah, don't think so. They'll be spending the night over in Porre."  


  
  


"What in hell's damnation happened here!?" an astonished Taban shouted.  
"We ran into a little snag, Taban. Some magus attacked the castle and thrashed the front gate." a bypassing servant, recognizing Taban as the famous scientist, replied.  
"That's not what I meant, I saw that happening from a distance. But what in the name of Saint Pete's brother is that naked guy dancing with the cavewoman doing out there?" Taban said while pointing outside.  
"Oh, that's just some guy who first was a frog then got transformed back into human again, then out of pure joy started dancing with the first being to cross his sight. It happened an hour ago I believe." said the servant.  


Taban shrugged the amazement off of himself and returned to what he was originally doing there, trying to locate his daughter Lucca. Wandering through the castle, he ended up in the Knight's Quarters.  


Gaspar was the only one left there. He turned around towards Taban.  


"Looking for miss Lucca?" he asked.  
"Wha..?" Taban tried to speak. "How do you know about that?"  


Gaspar examined Taban for a second. He then picked up a chess-board from under the table.  


"Feel like playing a game? I'll explain it all during it." he suggested.  


Hesitantly, Taban sat down on the chair in front of Gaspar. While the Guru set up the pieces, he began talking.  


  
  


Spekkio tried to climb up into the tree, but to no avail.  


"Blast this human form! Why did evolution get rid of their tail anyway? Don't they realise the neat things you can do with it?"  
As a final resort, he shape-shifted into a little bird and flew onto a branch on top of the tree. He peeked inside the house to see what its residents where doing.  


  


"Put that part over there Crono." Lucca said.  
Crono obeyed and picked up the metal box.  
"No! Don't touch that side!"  


The bottom of the box fell onto the floor and various electrical gadgets fell along with it.  


"Oh that's just great! Now look what you've done you muscle-brain!"  
"Hey relax, how was I supposed to know what it's bottom was?"  
"It says _this side up_ right there!" Lucca said while she pointed at a big red sticker on the top of the box.  


Crono didn't say a word, but yawned instead.  


"Whatever. I think I'll just sleep right here." he said while curling up into a little ball of human.  
Lucca however didn't like his rebellious behaviour. She aimed with her right foot, kicked, and hit Crono right onto his shin.  


  


Spekkio just watched the spectacle for another while in his bird-like form. He then flew onto a higher branch to peek through another window, where he saw Marle sleeping in Lucca's bed. All the books and scientific trinkets were still sprayed out onto the floor. He noticed Crono coming into the room, jumping on one foot while holding on to his other. The commotion woke Marle up from her sleep.  


  


"What happened to you?" she asked.  
"Lucca kicked me out of the living room. Now I don't have any place to sleep anymore!"  


Noticing what Crono was getting at, she stared for another second at him, then curled back up into the bed.  


"Well there's no room in here either." she said, and closed her eyes.  


  


Seeing where this was going, Spekkio positioned himself more in front of the window and shape-shifted back into his regular form, a Nu, right in front of Crono's eyes.

  


Crono looked through the window to see a grinning Nu waving at him. Surprised, he casted another glance at Marle, and then walked back down the stairs.  


"Where do you think you're going?" Lucca asked. She had already wrapped herself into a blanket and was lying on the couch in the living room.  
"I er.. I'm gonna go for a little walk okay?"  


Lucca didn't reply but just closed her eyes. Crono sighed. He walked over to the door and opened it. But just as he was about to step through...  


"And don't break anything outside, or you'll be sorry for the rest of your life!" Lucca shouted at him.  


Crono quickly stepped outside and closed the door behind him. What was wrong with those two? Better yet, what was Spekkio doing outside Lucca's house hanging around in a tree?  



End file.
